Cow’s milk without a cow

How startup “Perfect Day” managed to produce cow’s milk without animal exploitation

Milk production and its critical issues

The production of milk and its derivatives is often a topic of discussion, given the many critical issues that are sometimes raised by animal rights groups such as Animal Equality, Essere Animali and PETA. They point out that within intensive farms for the large-scale production of these products, animal mistreatment, violence and exploitation are the order of the day.

CIWF Italy estimates that there are about 36 million cows exploited for milk throughout the European Union (including 2 million in Italy alone), and despite the large number, legislation to promote and guarantee their welfare does not persist. In fact, it has been studied that while in nature the average lifespan of a cow might reach 20 years, within farms it is inevitably reduced to about 5, due to extreme exploitation and the resulting diseases.

In addition to these ethical issues, there are also a number of environmental implications. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), cow’s milk production accounts for 2.9% of total anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, also being a particularly impactful activity in terms of air and water pollution and contributing massively to soil degradation and tree deforestation.

For these and other reasons, the dairy industry is not considered sustainable and, therefore, radical solutions are needed in order to avoid the consequences of these actions.

Possible alternative solutions to cow’s milk consumption

One of the most popular solutions is to switch from cow’s milk to plant-based alternatives, such as rice, soy, and almond milk. The production of these beverages does not affect animal health in any way, as there is no contact with them, and, in addition, there are statistical studies indicating that cow’s milk production emits three times more greenhouse gases and consumes ten times more soil and two to twenty times more water than the production of plant-based alternatives.

There are a number of other issues, however, related, for example, to deforestation processes to create suitable fields for soybean plantations or the generous water requirements for rice drinks. In addition, it is difficult to replicate the taste of cow’s milk and its derivatives and, therefore, consumers have less incentive to purchase these types of beverages.

Perfect Day: an alternative reality using milk protein

Another alternative solution that is slowly gaining a foothold in the food market is a variety of cow’s milk that is derived from real milk protein in its products, but without exploiting the cows that produce it in any way.

This dairy innovation was conceived by two partners Perumal Gandhi and Ryan Pandya who, by studying the unique taste properties of milk, discovered what makes this food so uniquely creamy: its proteins, whey and casein. To this end, they began to isolate the gene by which cows produce these two proteins and introduced it into microorganisms inside bioreactors – tanks used for dairy production – thus succeeding in producing proteins identical to those found in milk.

With this in mind, in 2014, the two partners founded the start-up Perfect Day, which focuses on selling dairy products such as beverages, ice cream, yogurt and cheese using methods that do not involve exploiting dairy cows.

In addition to being a cruelty-free alternative, laboratory-based production of whey and casein from the isolated bovine genes that produce these proteins allows for careful selection of the analytical components of the product, thus going on to create a healthier food. In fact, Perfect Day milk is totally lactose-free and cholesterol-free, thus adapting to the needs of those who are intolerant to the sugars found in “traditional” cow’s milk.

Finally, there are also a number of environmental benefits. The company has calculated that its whey protein production – compared to “traditional” dairy production – would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 97%, water consumption for production would decrease by up to 99%, and about 60% fewer nonrenewable resources would be used.

The company is currently partnering with a profitable number of dairy brands and it is possible to find food produced by them in more than 8000 stores worldwide. At the moment, however, no store is located in Italy but, it is not excluded that, as has happened with laboratory products such as Beyond Meat’s burgers or Nestlé’s Increadible Burger, this dish may also appear on the shelves of supermarkets in our peninsula.

Matteo Porazzi

Graduated in Environmental Humanities from Ca’ Foscari University in Venice. He is passionate about sustainability, food, geography and animal studies, mainly in relation to contemporary issues. He found Atmosphera Lab a perfect place to express himself.